Abstract
The case study of Timbuktu shows that Mali’s culture, specifically music and heritage, plays an essential role in creating conditions for recovering from conflict, countering extremism, and building a multi-ethnic peace. In this chapter, I reflect on ways music itself and the communal experience of live concerts fuel recovery from conflict in Timbuktu, Mali, plagued for a decade with violent extremism. The Malian association, the Timbuktu Renaissance, an initiative that aims to leverage Mali’s and, particularly, Timbuktu’s heritage and living culture to promote peace and prosperity has been credited by locals with restoring hope for peace and the desire to work towards it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bate, F., & Fletcher, P. (2012, April 2). Timbuktu: From city of myth to rebel stronghold. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-timbuktu-myth/timbuktu-from-city-of-myth-to-rebel-stronghold-idUSBRE8330GB20120404
Bokova, I. (2016, June 22). Ending impunity for war crimes for cultural heritage: The Mali Case. Arguendo. https://www.international-criminal-justice-today.org/arguendo/ending-impunity-for-war-crimes-on-cultural-heritage-the-mali-case/.
Denselow, R. (2013, January 15). Mali Music ban by Islamists’ crushing culture to impose rule. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/15/mali-music-ban-islamistscrushing#:~:text=Nowhere%20does%20music%20have,controlled%20by%20Islamic%20rebel%20groups
“Destabilization of Mali”. n.d. Council on Foreign Relations, Global Conflict Tracker. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/destabilization-mali
Domonoske, C. (2016, September 27). For the first time destruction of cultural sites leads to war crime conviction. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/27/495606932/for-first-time-destruction-of-cultural-sites-leads-to-war-crime-conviction
Fernandes, S. (2013, May 19). The day the music died in Mali. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/opinion/the-day-the-music-died-in-mali.html
Hammer, J. (2016). The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu: And their race to save the world’s most precious manuscripts. Simon and Shuster.
MacLean, R. (2018, January 18). Islamists banned their music. Now Timbuktu is singing again. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/18/timbuktu-begins-to-sing-again-mali-music-jihadists
Schneider, C., & Djitteye, E.H. (2017, October 3). The word on the street in Timbuktu (About the ICC Trial). Huffington Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-word-on-the-street-in_b_12187738
Schneider, C., Shields, C., Ansar M. A., & Niang, S. R. (2015, June 3). The Timbuktu renaissance: One year later. Brookings Institution, Markaz. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2015/06/03/the-timbuktu-renaissance-one-year-later/
Shields, C., Schneider, C., Ansar, M. A., & Niang, S. R. (2014, August 4). Culture at the heart of peace-building and socio-economic development. Brookings Institution Up-Front. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/08/04/timbuktu-renaissance-culture-at-the-heart-of-peace-building-and-socio-economic-development/
Smith, A. D. (2014, September 16). Life in Timbuktu: How the ancient city of gold is slowly turning to dust. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/sep/16/-sp-life-timbuktu-mali-ancient-city-gold-slowly-turning-to-dust#:~:text=There%20are%201%2C200%20assigned%20for,estimated%20at%20less%20than%2015%2C000
van den Berg, S. (2020, July 14). Malian accused of Timbuktu war crimes refuses to enter plea. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-warcrimes/malian-accused-of-timbuktu-war-crimes-refuses-to-enter-plea-idUSKCN24F1OA
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schneider, C. (2022). The Brave Musicians and “Bad-Ass Librarians” of Timbuktu: Culture Fuels Recovery from Conflict. In: Afolabi, T., Ogunnubi, O., Ukuma, S.T. (eds) Re-centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-colonial Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0641-1_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0641-1_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-0640-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-0641-1
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)